Birthday Spirit
by Kare Uta
Summary: When you choose not to celebrate your birthday, sometimes getting sick for it doesn't seem so bad. Kai/OC Tori . Oneshot.


Kai coughed heavily into his hand, wiping his palm on the leg of his jeans before returning to staring through his clouded vision at the ceiling

_**Birthday Spirit**_

Kai coughed heavily into his hand, wiping his palm on the leg of his jeans before returning to staring through his clouded vision at the ceiling. He was sitting on the couch in Tyson's living room, opposite Max, who was lying on the seat with his knees bent over the arm of the chair playing some video game. The youngest had headphones plugged into his ears and the music turned up so loud that the others could hear the bass thumping through the entire silence in the room. Ray sat beside him but on the ground, quietly reading a book on the coffee table.

"Hey, Ray," Kai croaked in a hoarse voice. Immediately after, he coughed sharply and reached for his glass of water on the coffee table just by Ray's book.

"Oh Kai, you sound horrible," the neko-jin cooed sympathetically as he shut his book. "Perhaps you should just go home and get some rest."

"I can't," Kai murmured brokenly, clearing his throat, "Tori went shopping and I forgot my stupid key. I hope she's not going through any trouble for this birthday thing."

"It _is_ your birthday after all, Kai." Tyson laughed, munching on a packet of crisps as he settled by Kai on the sofa. "I'm surprised she hasn't made a huge deal of it already."

"She understands that I don't want to make a big deal out of something as small as my birthday. Day's like this don't matter to me and thankfully, she understands that."

"So what are you so worried about?" Max asked, tossing his game and music player onto the coffee table.

"I don't know." Kai croaked, rubbing his throat. "I guess I just like the fact that she understood so quickly, I didn't even have to lecture her." He tried to stifle a laugh but all that really achieved was the onset of a rather intense coughing fit. Ray thumped him on the back sharply until he was able to regain his breath. "Thanks," the boy croaked. His eyes were watery from the coughing and he could feel his heart pound labouredly in his chest. His tone was raspy and it sounded like the man had painfully swallowed a razorblade.

"Your room is still upstairs you know? You can go and rest until you know Tori's home." Max pointed out to him, concern for his captain brimming in his eyes, more when Kai shook his head at him.

"I'll be fine. I'll go for a short walk and then head home."

"A walk?!" Ray exclaimed, catching Kai's arm when he stood up, "You can't go for a walk, Kai. What if you pass out or something?"

Kai sighed, snatching his arm away from his friend and making his way to the door, "I'm not _that_ sick, guys. I'll see you tomorrow."

Max watched after him, staring out the window where he saw Kai effortlessly walk through the blizzard outside, "Do you think we should follow him or something to make sure he's alright?"

"This is Kai we're talking about here, Maxie." Tyson reminded, "He could probably hear us following him from a mile away."

Ray collapsed back onto the sofa, "Besides, Kai likes his walks; the moment he realizes we're following then he'll just stand in the snow waiting for us to freeze so much that we'd come running back home. Aside from the rare cold, winter doesn't affect Kai, this is _his_ territory."

In the meantime, Kai had just arrived home, choosing to have avoided his walk and thinking that lying on the ground at the apartment door in the warm hallway was far better than walking around in the cold if Tori wasn't home. Hitting his fist heard against the wooden door and falling against it brought his auburn-haired girlfriend at the door promptly, surprised when he almost fell against her the moment she opened the door. "Kai?" Tori looked on at him confusedly when he pushed himself off her and wavered past her down the hall, tossing his scarf and jacket on the ground on his way to the bathroom.

Tori continued to stare after him for a few moments, staring with utter confusion on her features. After a while she began picking up some of the discarded clothing, tossing them in the washing basket before standing outside the bathroom that Kai had gone to. She'd got there in time to hear the shower turning back off, Kai stepping out a moment later in a towel and walking down the hall. "I haven't had a cold in years," He began ranting, pulling clothes out of one of the drawers in their bedroom. "Why'd that have to change?"

Tori kept her eyes off him as he put some clothes on, looking back at him and finding him in boxers and a t-shirt before he slid beneath the sheets and into bed. She crawled onto the bed, sitting up beside him and brushing the strands of hair off his wet forehead, "And on your birthday no less." She finished with a sigh.

"This is like any other day."

Tori curled up close to him, resting her head on his side, lifting his shirt slightly and kissing the skin tenderly, "That's not true. And it's not up for debate either so don't argue."

"I should move to the guest bedroom till I get better so that I won't make you sick."

Tori smile grew a little at his consideration, shaking her head, "There's no need. I took shots against stuff like this, I'm pretty immune to the simple stuff. I'll be fine." She sat up, watching him look up at her with those weak eyes that had gone puffy pink due to illness. She tugged the blankets around him, "I'll be right back." She whispered, kissing his cheek lovingly.

Kai was beginning to feel drowsy, sleepy beyond belief. There was no way he could force himself beneath the blankets any further for warmth, pressing part of the blanket to his face. A little later, more warmth engulfed his whole body, opening his tear-clouded eyes and looking up at Tori as she placed more blankets over his form. "Thanks." He murmured hoarsely.

"You're really burning up." She looked more than just concerned, placing the back of her hand to his blisteringly hot forehead. "I'm going to go make you some tea…"

"I'm fine, Tori, really." He suppressed a sob and it caught in his throat, causing him to cough violently. Tori rubbed the boy's back firmly to calm his fit and when the splutters stopped Kai groaned and flopped forward into his girlfriend's chest with a pained groan.

"Bed," Tori instructed simply, pushing Kai back down onto the soft mattress. Kai practically whimpered in protest, clinging to the girl's frame while he was not quite ready to let go of her. Sighing, Tori reluctantly agreed to let her boyfriend stay in her arms and she caressed his warm back slowly, keeping her hands away from his scar that was much hotter than any other part of his body. She smiled weakly when she heard the sick man moan in content. It wasn't long before his labored breathing deepened and it soon became obvious that he had fallen asleep in an upright position, albeit slumped against his lover's shoulder.

She gently pried his body off her own and set him down again against all the soft pillows and blankets, pulling the material up to his chin and departing from the bedroom to make the tea like she'd promised. Upon returning, she placed a small plate down on the nightstand along with a cup of tea, then getting onto the bed and careful not to wake the boy up.

He did so after only about ten more minutes of sleeping soundly. Instead of ushering him back to sleep, she handed him the cup of tea slowly and keeping a light hold on it so he wouldn't drop it with his weak shaking hands. "There's honey in it to help your throat." She informed him in a hushed tone as he began to sip it.

"There's no need to look after me, Tor, I'll be fine."

"You won't magically get better, you have to do _something_ about it." She picked up the small plate from the nightstand and put it down beside him on the bed. Kai looked at her a little confusedly, beckoning her to speak, "I know you don't like birthday things but I figured you should at least have some cake." She was quiet…hesitant. She knew Kai didn't like birthdays, or anything to do with them for that matter, "Cake is nice…and… you don't need to have it just for birthdays."

Kai smiled to himself, knowing that she couldn't see him because her head was bowed so much in embarrassment. He picked the plate up, sitting back comfortably and eating the marzipan cake quietly, "I would actually kiss you right about now, if I weren't so afraid of making you sick."

"So cake is okay?" Tori asked, resting her head against his shoulder.

Kai bit his lip to suppress a laugh, attempting to save himself the trouble of another coughing fit. "Yeah, it's okay." After finishing the small piece of cake he had been given, he put the plate back on the nightstand, lying down a little more and wrapping an arm around his girlfriend since she clearly wasn't so worried about getting sick. "So…what's with this insistence that my birthday is important?"

"Am _I_ important to you, Kai?" Tori asked softly, her bright brown eyes fluttering closed.

"That's a really stupid question." Kai informed her, "But of course you are and it's not something you should even doubt."

"Is it a good thing that I'm alive?" She continued with her queries.

"Of course."

"Then your birth is _really_ important!" She exclaimed in a childish pitch, "Remember? I'm only alive because I'm living for you; if you weren't born then I would've died."

"Alright," Kai sighed in defeat, "so maybe _now_ there really is a good meaning behind me being born."

"Well of course there is."

Kai smiled, kissing the top of her head kindly before murmuring, "We're still not going to celebrate my birthday next year though."

Tori's smile grew too, a bit of defeat of her own taking over her features, "Fair enough." She kissed his neck tenderly, wrapping her arms around him and lying there for a few quiet moments as she waited for him to go back to sleep. "Happy birthday, Kai."


End file.
